Allegedly, 27 Netherlands soccer players have placed bets in their own league, and in some cases in matches they participated in, it was revealed this week.
A report from the Dutch Gaming Authority said the wagers occurred in the nation’s top two leagues, the Eredivisie and second-level Eerste Divisie, also known as the KeukenKampioen Divisie or Kitchen Champion Divisions.
The news was first reported by the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the country’s public service broadcaster. The NOS said the Dutch Gaming Authority reports suspicious betting activity to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The NOS reported that six players were implicated from Eredivisie and 19 from the Eerste Divisie. Two others were from unknown teams.
The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) told NOS, “Betting on matches in your own tournament is explicitly against football regulations.”
As per policy, the KNVB did not provide names of suspected players, but said in a statement clubs had been informed if a player from their team was under investigation.
“Sports clubs only receive an anonymous signal and don’t know which player is involved,” the KNVB continued. “Due to this lack of information, we cannot investigate further or initiate disciplinary proceedings.”
No other details were revealed, including when the betting took place.
Two players, who are apparently not involved in the current investigation, were penalized for betting on matches.
Defender Tom Beugelsdijk, who is on the Helmond Sport club, part of the second-tier Eerste Divisie, was suspended for five matches in July 2022 because of online gambling on Dutch matches. Earlier, AZ midfielder Jordy Clasie, who was on the 2022 World Cup squad, was suspended for two matches due to gambling.
The current inquiry comes on the heels of the country’s governing body looking into possible match fixing two years ago, From October 2021 to December 2022.
Sportsbooks told the Gaming Authority that there were 40 possible cases of match fixing.
In response to the allegations, the KNVB said in December 2021 it was increasing its allegiance to Sportradar Integrity Services (SIS) in order to boost its safeguarding measures.
